Postpartum Hair Loss
A woman’s body goes through a whole lot of changes during pregnancy that take a while to correct post-delivery. When a pregnant mom houses a baby inside her body for nine months, all her abdominal organs get displaced, her hormone levels spike, she gains weight and grows luscious locks. While most pregnancy-induced strains are tiring, having voluminous hair feels like an absolute delight. But just like all other changes, the effect of child-bearing on a woman’s mane wears off, leading to postpartum hair loss. Hence, almost every new mom goes through prolonged spells of hair loss in massive clumps, which can be quite distressing, to say the least.
Losing hair during the postnatal stage is completely natural and nothing to worry about because that’s also a corrective action that will take your body back to its pre-pregnancy state. This may sound disturbing, but it’s really not, and you’ll realize that too once you know the reason behind the healthy hair growth during pregnancy and the loss thereafter.
Why Women Shed Hair Postpartum?
When a woman gets pregnant, her hormonal levels shoot up, causing multiple changes to her body. Out of all the increased hormones, spiked estrogen levels keep the hair from falling off during pregnancy, leading to thick hair by the time of delivery. The estrogen effect is doubled due to the increased circulation around the body during the nine months of pregnancy. Resultantly, an expectant mom develops unbelievably silky and healthy hair by the end of her third trimester.
But once the baby is out and the hormone levels drop. All the hair strands that had stayed on for the entire duration of pregnancy begin to fall off at once. This is why postpartum hair loss is so acute. However, it’s not something to worry about because the many clumps of hair you lose after delivery aren’t supposed to be on your head in the first place. If you hadn’t been pregnant, you would have lost all those tufts as you normally did. But because your hormone readings were off the charts for a while, your hair stopped falling, only to fall in big bunches to make up for the lost time. Hence, you don’t have to worry about losing hair post-delivery.
However, you can try a few things to avoid losing unnecessary hair. Here are some tips that will help you with postpartum hair loss.
Avoid Styling Postpartum
For the 2-3 months that your body is recovering, so is your hair. This is why you should keep your hands off all hair styling equipment such as curlers and straighteners. Moreover, you shouldn’t try any harmful hair treatments, such as dying or perming, that could make the situation worse.
Use a Volumizing Shampoo
First of all, do not shampoo your hair very often. Secondly, when you do shampoo, be sure it doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals. If possible, try to use an organic product to avoid exposing your hair to injurious chemical compounds. Additionally, use a top-quality conditioner after every wash and use a wide-toothed comb to detangle your hair. Also, you must be gentle when combing your hair; otherwise, you’ll have endless clumps of hair on your brush/comb once you are done grooming your hair.
Eat Well
Eating nutrient-dense foods after giving birth is already essential for a mother’s overall health. But one mustn’t forget to eat foods vital for hair growth, such as vitamins. Include as many vitamin groups in your diet as possible to get through the postpartum hair loss with as minimal damage as possible.
Don’t be too upset over losing your dense, silky hair postpartum, these tips will help you regain your beautiful locks! We offer assistance to moms at any stage of their child’s development. Check out our services here.
